University of Wyoming football coach Craig Bohl speaks with members of the media during a press conference at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyo. on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013. (Blaine McCartney, Wyoming Tribune Eagle)

Speaking with reporters that cover the Mountain West during the conference’s recent football media-day activities in Las Vegas, Colorado State coach Jim McElwain was asked about Craig Bohl taking over Wyoming’s program.

Bohl, 56, coached North Dakota State to the past three FCS national championships and compiled an overall record of 104-32 in ll seasons there. Prior to his time at NDSU, Bohl was the linebackers coach (1995-1999), then the defensive coordinator (2000-2002) at Nebraska.

I haven’t seen an official announcement from the league, but the Brett Hull Award goes to the BCHL’s points leader, and Smith’s 83 points were matched by Victoria’s Myles Fitzgerald, a fellow 20-year-old who has committed to Bemidji State. Fitzgerald produced 27 goals and 56 assists.

Other Brett Hull Award winners include former DU standouts Tyler Bozak (2007) and Beau Bennett (2010), who are currently playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively. Brett Hull racked up a league-record 188 points in 1984.

Smith, who attended Arapahoe High in Centennial and admittedly is a family friend, was captain of the 2010 Colorado Thunderbirds’ U16 team that won the state’s first Tier I, triple-A national championship. He previously played for Cedar Rapids and Chicago of the United States Hockey League, under the guidance of DU and the former staff led by George Gwozdecky, who was fired April 1.

The University of Denver hockey team began the season ranked outside the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll for the first time since 2001. But after sweeping Merrimack with 1-0 and 4-0 shutouts to begin the season, the Pioneers are back inside the top 15. They came in 12th this week and are also 12th in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll.

DU took a huge step in keeping its home-ice playoff streak alive with Friday’s wild 5-4 victory over North Dakota at Magness Arena. The Pios, who go for the series sweep tonight (7 p.m., Root), climbed into a favorable tie with Wisconsin for the sixth and final WCHA home-ice spot of the 12-team league, in which DU and UND are bolting after this season.

The Pios have a game in hand over UW and also have 11 wins to the Badgers’ 10, so the spot is technically theirs. Five games remain for DU, which visits Minnesota next weekend before hosting Alaska-Anchorage the following week. DU has hosted a first-round WCHA series since 2004.

Check out our game story from Friday’s wild game. The paper version didn’t include quotes; this online version does. Pretty sure that was the longest NCAA non-overtime game I have ever covered.

No changes in DU’s lineup, which can only feature 21 players because the Pios only have 21 players available. Junior forward Jarrod Mermis remains on a leave of absence. Jussi Olkinuora gets another start in net.

The DU Pioneers (15-9-5, 10-7-5 WCHA) haven’t started the playoffs on the road since 2003, but unless they move north in the WCHA standings, they’ll have that 10-year streak snapped. The Pios sit seventh in the 12-team WCHA, two pionts behind No. 6 Wisconsin (13-10-7, 10-7-7), which has played two more games.

DU tonight opens a two-game set against visiting North Dakota (16-8-6, 11-5-6), which is tied for fourth in the WCHA, three points ahead of DU. Looking ahead, DU plays a two-game series at Minnesota next weekend before finishing up with Alaska-Anchorage at Magness Arena on March 8 and March 10.

Sophomore goalie Jussi Olkinuora will get his sixth consecutive weekend-opening start Friday at Bemidji State and might also play Saturday in the series finale, DU coach George Gwozdecky said. Senior Adam Murray and junior Sam Brittain are also available. Murray is on the heels of overcoming yet another groin injury and Brittain is 0-3 in his last three starts (12 goals allowed). Olkinuora has been outstanding in his last three starts, going 0-1-2 but allowing just five goals.

DU, after a 9-1 start, is on a six-game winless drought (0-4-2). As captain Paul Phillips said, the Pioneers would probably be 0-6 if it weren’t for Olkinuora, the former walk-on who is on the verge of getting consecutive weekend starts. We had a nice feature planned on the Fine Finn Find for Friday’s paper, but it is now pegged to run on a good piece of real estate Monday.

Meanwhile, I caught up with freshman center Quentin Shore on Wednesday after practice, the first time I had a chance to ask him about last week’s rumor that had him defecting to Portland of the Western Hockey League and play with good buddy Seth Jones, his former U12 teammate in Denver and roommate at the U.S. National Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Q said he doesn’t know how the rumor started, but that The Hockey News guy that tweeted it nevertheless has a solid reputation. Q isn’t pointing fingers.

“I’m really happy where I am. I think we have a great team here, and I think our success has bonded through all four lines, and I’m just happy to be a part of one of then,” Q said. “I’m happy to be here right now and will continue my hockey career here.”

Q has three goals and seven points in 16 games. His two older brother, Drew and Nick, didn’t produce any better or any worse as 18-year-old DU freshmen. Drew had just five goals and 19 points in 41 games in 2009-10, and Nick amassed just seven goals and 18 points in 33 games in 2010-11.

Drew, of course, had sensational sophomore (23 goals) and junior (22 goals) seasons and Nick produced 13 goals as a sophomore and currently leads DU with 19 points (six goals).

Bottom line: Is Q struggling? Relatively speaking, no. He’s right on track to be as good as his older brothers. He’s the Pioneers’ third-line center who is getting some time on the power play and penalty kill. If anything, the rumor developed after some — perhaps even Q — began to wonder if the kid was better off developing in major-junior, after failing to be drafted by an NHL team last summer and not making the preliminary U.S. World Junior team roster. But Q remains eligible for the 2013 draft and to play in next year’s World Junior Championship.

Finally, Gwozdecky said sophomore forward Larkin Jacobson is scheduled to come off his second team-imposed suspension after Christmas, and sophomore defenseman Josiah Didier (high ankle sprain) could also return to the lineup Dec. 29 against visiting Boston University.

Sophomore wing Zac Larraza, who missed last week’s North Dakota trip with the flu, is back in business.

Our DU hockey/Colorado Thunderbirds story is being held for Friday, Nov. 16, to help advance the Gold Pan series (Denver at Colorado College Nov. 16; Colorado College at Denver Nov. 17). We will link that story here when it runs.

Here’s what we know. The Frank Serratore-founded Thunderbirds, who primarily operate out of Big Bear Ice Arena in Aurora, are producing Division I (and major-junior) talent throughout North America. The DU Pioneers have benefited the most, but Air Force is in the loop and CC is catching on. The following unedited information was provided by the Colorado Thunderbirds.

University of Denver North Dakota in the second period of the game at Magness Arena in Denver, CO. on Friday, February 24, 2012.

The DU Pioneers (4-0, 2-0 WCHA) have scored five goals in each of their four games and only allowed a combined six. Indeed, this defensive-minded team has been a big surprise in the opponent’s end.

“Our scoring is kind of spread around, throughout the lineup, forwards and defensemen,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said Saturday after his team’s 5-2 series-sweeping victory over Michigan Tech. “It’s been a good start for us. I really, really have to give a lot of credit to our leadership, led by (captain) Paul Phillips. He’s one of those silent leaders . . . Paul and the three guys that are working with him — (Shawn) Ostrow, (Chris) Knowlton and (Nick) Shore — have done an outstanding job preparing this team for the season, making sure (everyone) is held accountable.”

Said Ostrow: “Little different from previous years. We have four lines contributing right now. It’s nice. We don’t rely on the same player every night. Everyone is chipping in.”

Sophomore defenseman Joey LaLeggia continues his all-American campaign. He already has three goals and six points in four games.

“I think we’ve surprised a lot of people these last two weekends,” LaLeggia said. “We’re just going to continue to do the right things, keep working hard.”

Our game story should be up at www.denverpost.com/sports soon. Thanks for reading.

Excited about hockey season, and excited about our DU story pegged for Thursday’s paper.

Freshman defenseman Nolan Zajac is the son of former Pioneer Tom Zajac (1973-76), but two of Nolan’s older brothers, Travis and Darcy, played at rival North Dakota, and a third brother, Kelly, concluded a four-year career at Union College last spring. Of course, Travis Zajac is a top-six forward for the New Jersey Devils.

I have so much good stuff, but not all of it will fit in the paper, so here’s some leftovers:

The Zajacs are from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and certainly all four boys had great opportunities to play in the Canadian Hockey League (major-junior). But Tom is thrilled to see all of them go to college.

“Hockey is a tough game to make it in. I think the boys, or girls, have to have something to fall back on,” he said. “I think the atmosphere of going to school and playing hockey for their school is something I wanted them to enjoy, just like I enjoyed.”

Tom said he didn’t encourage Nolan to choose DU. Rather, it was a coincidence.

“I left it up to Nolan, where he thought he fits in the best. I know when he went to visit DU he came back and said, ‘I don’t need to look at anyone else.'” North Dakota recruited Nolan, his father said, but his son never took an official visit to Grand Forks. “All of us just told him to make sure you go to a place you fit in and and a place you’re going to play.”

Nolan realizes he might catch some grief when DU visits UND for a series Dec. 7-8.

“Great place to play, good team, and it’s close to home, so I’ll have a lot of friends and family,” he said.

Because of next Tuesday’s presidential debate at Magness Arena, DU has evacuated its Murray Armstrong Hockey Complex (locker room, lounge, etc.) and is practicing at Joy Burns Arena on the Pioneers’ campus and using the Avalanche facility at Family Sports Center in Centennial.

The Secret Service owns Magness Arena right now, and will continue to do so until after the Pioneers’ Oct. 6 exhibition game against British Columbia at the Pepsi Center.

Meanwhile, the rebuilding Pioneers were picked to finish third by the media in the final year of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association as we know it.

The coach wondered about every part of the system that comprises CSU’s passing attack.

“One, are you getting open on time? Which goes back to the detail,” McElwain said. “Two, I thought there was way too much push in the pocket, which once that gets up in your face it’s hard. It’s not easy. And so finding the throwing lanes (is hard).”

Grayson did improve his completion percentage from the first to the second half, going 5-of-11 in the first half and 8-of-13 in the second. CSU’s use of a no-huddle offense had something to do with it, McElwain said.

“I thought when we gave him the opportunity to go no-huddle, he started to find guys and got into a rhythm,” he said. “I think the important thing is finding a rhythm.”

FORT COLLINS – Colorado State coach Jim McElwain tried to put the softest spin on what he knew to be true about why his team played flat football in a 22-7 loss to North Dakota State tonight at Hughes Stadium.

“Sometimes in life, you maybe didn’t put what you needed to, and the result is just what happened,” he said. “Those are lessons.”

In short: His team didn’t prepare the way it should have.

“I think they were feeling the warm fuzzies,” McElwain said. “I think they had a lot of people excited over what happened (in a win over Colorado last week). But that’s not an excuse. Get that out, that’s not an excuse. You live each day, and what you do with that day says a lot about who you are.”

McElwain tried to warn his team about North Dakota State’s worth. The Bison, last season’s FCS champion, are a physical lot. Its offense isn’t tricky. NDSU runs downhill, wins the line of scrimmage and mixes in an effective passing game led by a veteran quarterback. NDSU quarterback Brock Jensen throw for 178 yards and a touchdown.

In the third quarter the Bison offense drove 16 plays in 9:29, which essentially wiped out an entire period of play and resulted in a field goal that, for all intents and purposes, put the game out of reach.

“It was tiring for the defense and it took a lot of energy out of us,” said linebacker Shaquil Barrett of that drive. “It took away some of our hopes of winning because they had the ball for a long time.”

Meanwhile CSU played the game in fits-and-starts. There were successes like quarterback Garrett Grayson’s 69-yard touchdown pass to Crockett Gillmore, and 64 yards from 12 carries out of running back Donnell Alexander, who replaced injured starter Chris Nwoke in the backfield.

But there were more shortcomings. CSU converted just 1-of-10 third downs. The Rams committed nine penalties for a whopping 101 yards. Overall, the running game generated just 3.0 yards per rush.

On his offensive line, McElwain was blunt.

“We’ve got to find some fire up front,” he said. “We’ve got to find some guys who are committed to making it happen, have a little energy.”

All of it starts with better practices.

“We didn’t have a very good week of practice and that was evident,” center Weston Richburg said. “So I think lack of preparation. They just flat-out beat us today. They were the better team today.”

Said quarterback Garrett Grayson: “I felt like we didn’t have the best week of practice. We kind of got excited about what we had done last Saturday. We were still kind of focused on that maybe, I don’t really know. But I know we didn’t have the best week of practice that we’ve had. I feel like going into CU was way better practice as a team than we had going into this week.

“We tried to tell each other as much as we can not to overlook those guys, the (FCS) national champions. They’re not coming in here to lose. They were a well-coached football team and it showed tonight.”

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

Sacramento State has played at least one FBS (major-college) team each year since 2002 but, including the season-opening loss against New Mexico State, this marks only the second time that the Hornets will have played two FBS teams in a season. The other was in 2007, losses to New Mexico State and New Mexico.

This is the first time that the Hornets will play FBS teams in consecutive weeks.

Sacramento State and Colorado have never met in football. However, the Hornets stand 6-1 vs. teams in Colorado. That’s 0-1 vs. Colorado State (2008) and 6-0 vs. fellow Big Sky member Northern Colorado.

Sophomore quarterback Garrett Safron recorded a career day last weekend in the 49-19 loss at New Mexico State, throwing for 308 yards and two touchdowns.

With the addition of Cal Poly, UC Davis, North Dakota and Southern Utah to the Big Sky for football, the conference has swelled to 13 members. That’s the largest in the FCS and is matched in the FBS only by the SEC and Mid-American Conference.

FORT COLLINS – Donnell Alexander’s 37-yard run late in the fourth quarter helped drive a stake through Colorado’s fading hopes of winning last week, while at the same time sprinting his way into Rams fans’ hearts.

Everyone is getting to know him, the redshirt freshman from Blue Springs, Mo. This week, in CSU’s home opener against North Dakota State, everyone gets to see a bigger dose of him. Regular starter Chris Nwoke is out of the game due to a sprained right ankle and Alexander takes his place in the starting lineup.

FORT COLLINS – The final reside from coach Jim McElwain’s first win as a head coach on Saturday was a slew of phone calls and text messages from the people closest to him in Alabama.

“That’s an understatement,” McElwain said. “They were excited. There’s great people back there, great friends all over the country that sent (congrats). But, you know, they know I probably wasn’t enjoying it because I was breaking down North Dakota State and I have never really taken time to reflect on a win.”

And yes, one of those was the big guy – Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban.

In 2011, the Mountain West had its own dedicated network to air football games. But even then, Colorado State’s eight games on The Mtn. were difficult to find. Some Colorado viewers got the channel as part of their cable packages and many didn’t.

As the MW shuffled its ranks, the network was scuttled in June, leaving teams like the Rams without a regular TV outlet.

But who needs a network anyway? The Rams on Monday announced they had reached a broadcast agreement with Denver’s KUSA that will land CSU on over-the-air KTVD Channel 20 for seven games this season. Channel 20 is the sister station of KUSA-9 and is included on Comcast, DirecTV and Dish standard packages.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Freshman goalie Juho Olkinuora will backstop the DU Pioneers in tonight’s WCHA Final Five championship at the Xcel Energy Center, a rematch of the 2011 final. It’s North Dakota vs. DU … again.

DU has won a record 15 of these things, including three times under coach George Gwozdecky (2002, 2005 and 2008). Both these teams will get bids to the NCAA Tournament tomorrow morning, with tonight’s winner getting the auto bid. UND is gunning for a No. 1 seed, which might end up getting the Sioux back here for next week’s West Regional, if Minnesota is a No. 2 or No. 3 seed. That’s as far as I’m going with the PairWise Rankings, given that we won’t have to guess in three hours (or more).

As expected, DU will go with just five defensemen, because it only has five available. Junior Paul Phillips suffered a leg injury early in Friday’s 3-2 double-OT victory over Minnesota-Duluth and will not play, and freshman Wade Bennett, who has yet to play this season, is also injured. No other lineup changes.

The Sioux, who have just 11 forwards, are going with junior Aaron Dell in the nets.

Crazy last 24 hours here, with temperatures in the 70s and an unreal St. Patrick’s Day feel. Huge parade today and thousands of green-glad folks celebrating the holiday along with thousands of Sioux fans in green and black sweaters. Staying at the stately Saint Paul Hotel. Life is good.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. — DU will today be without junior defenseman Paul Phillips, who suffered a leg injury on his first or second shift Thursday in a 3-2 overtime win over Michigan Tech. The Pios have basically played without the Phillips, an assistant captain, for the past two games. He was also injured in Sunday’s 3-2 OT victory over Wisconsin in Denver, an upper-body injury, I believe, and he did not return.

Freshman D Wade Bennett, who has not played this season, is not available. Thus, the Pioneers are left with five D — likely for the rest of the weekend and perhaps the rest of the season.

Potentially, DU could play six games in nine days before the 16-team NCAA Tournament is announced Sunday morning. A win today in the semifinals over Minnesota-Duluth gets the Pios into Saturday’s Broadmoor Trophy championship game against tonight’s Minnesota/North Dakota winner. DU began the WCHA playoffs last weekend against the Badgers, who won Game 1 before the Pios pulled out Games 2 and 3.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.